BLOOMFIELD HILLS — While Farmington Hills Mercy’s hockey team hasn’t lost a single contest over the past two seasons, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood gave the Marlins got one of their biggest challenges during that 30-game stretch in Saturday’s Catholic League championship match-up.
Mercy (15-0-0) needed clutch goals from Allison Fergin, Sydney Takla and Grace Reeber to get past the Cranes, 3-1, at Cranbrook’s Wallace Ice Arena.
The two teams played a scoreless first period, but Fergin and Takla were finally able to push the puck past Cranes goalie Paige Gorman, each lighting the lamp within two minutes of each other late in the second period.
“We were all pretty nervous coming into the game, but we knew what we had to get done,” said Takla, Mercy’s senior captain. “We had to work well as a team together, and step up and start fixing some of the mistakes we made in the first period, move forward and go from there as a team.”
Fergin, a sophomore defenseman, broke the scoreless tie when she fired a slapshot from the right point with 10:44 gone in the second period. Junior forward Maggie Murphy and sophomore forward Ashley Manning earned the assists.
“We finally did what we’ve been talking to them to do, that’s to get in front of the shots,” Mercy coach Dave Roegner said. “Paige is a pretty tough goaltender to score against, and she was partially screened on that, didn’t see it, so it was in. She sees everything when it’s straight on, so that one was a screen shot.”
Takla got her goal two minutes later. The play began as a 3-on-1 Marlins rush; Takla kept the puck and lifted it over Gorman’s leg pads.
“I think we possessed just a little bit more team speed than they do overall, and I think that really was the primary difference,” Roegner said. “(Takla’s) real strong with the puck, and she demonstrated she’s got a bit of a scoring touch, too. Those two goals certainly caused a feeling of relief for me.”
Cranbrook (9-4-2) didn’t wilt, though; the Cranes made it 2-1 just 47 seconds later, getting an unassisted goal on a breakaway from senior forward Robin Goldman.
The Marlins added an insurance goal from Reeber at 9:02 of the third period, with the assist going to sophomore forward Elise Brown.
This was Mercy’s third victory this year over Cranbrook, but Roegner says the Cranes have brought more of a challenge with each time out.
“This was a great game. This was a really great game to watch, a great game to coach,” he said. “There was excellent goaltending on both sides. They’ve got a stellar goaltender; she played great. I’m really proud of the way our kids played, and my hat’s off to them, too. They were in it the whole time. I’ve seen improvement from them all the way through the year. We’ll see what they’ve got to bring when the state tournament comes around.”
Following two remaining Michigan Girls High School Hockey League conference games, the 12-team field will begin its state tournament on March 4. Mercy — the defending state champions — will likely be the top seed because of its unblemished record this year. In addition to Cranbrook, Catholic League teams from Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart/Bloomfield Hills Marian and Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett will also be in the field.
“I think the single biggest key is for us to be able to run three lines, because we’ve been working very hard on developing three solid lines — not necessarily three scoring lines,” Roegner said. “The other thing is a luck thing and that’s injuries. If we stay away from injuries, we’ll be very, very strong in the tournament.”
In the meantime, the Marlins say the Catholic League championship prepares them well for the year-ending tournament.
“(The Catholic League final) holds a degree of importance; it’s important to us every year,” Roegner said. “It sort of gives our team a taste of tournament action, even if it’s usually just the one game. Obviously it’s important for the school, but really, for our girls, it gives them an opportunity because we say ‘Now you’ve got to ramp it up another five times.’ That’s what the state tournament’s going to be like.”
“We’re hoping to keep it going, but we don’t want to say too much (about our winning streak),” Takla said. “We’re just going to come out here and do what we need to do.”
